Classics Today 10/10.
Surely nobody ever expected to hear the tuba played like this? When he started learning the instrument, somebody must have forgotten to tell Øystein Baadsvik that the tuba can't do everything. And in all likelihood, this mistake will be impossible to repair - there is little chance that anyone would be able to catch up with him in order to tell him now!
This collection of pieces-you-never-thought-you’d-hear-on-the-tuba runs the gamut from Vivaldi's view of winter to Monti's Csárdás, from the embouchure-defying to the luscious. When you think that you have heard everything - and are still trying to decide whether you really did hear what you remember hearing - Øystein Baadsvik adds a piece of his own, Fnugg, proving that there really is nothing that can't be expressed on the tuba if one happens to have this level of skill, communicative passion and musicality. Fnugg (Norwegian for something as weightless as a snowflake) is an improvisation with elements of the Australian Aboriginal instrument didgeridoo and Norwegian folk music, using multiphonics (to sing and play simultaneously) and Baadsvik’s own invention "Lip Beat".
Some press voices:
‘State of the art recorded sound caps an extremely well planned, perfectly executed recital in which humor, charm, and virtuosity combine to make the best possible case for the tuba as star of the show.’ Classicstoday.com
"The arrangements are fine examples of the best of musical reinvention... The acrobatic displays amount to an elephant pirouetting gracefully, and then showing the refinement and class to join you for a nice bottle of wine and desert... a very pleasant surprise, worthy of any collection." MusicWeb
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